The Best Oatmeal Muffins

This muffin took two days to perfect! It took a bit of research to get it just right so I'm taking the liberty of calling it the best! I found a Southern Living Cookbook this weekend and came upon a recipe for Oatmeal Muffins that sounded good.  I proceeded to make them yesterday...but they turned out, in a word, lousy!
So, I looked through my trusty old Farm Journal Cookbook and, sure enough, there was a recipe for these muffins that was very different from the Southern Living one.

It calls for soaking the oatmeal in buttermilk for an hour before mixing together the batter.
But the book gave instructions to mix the ingredients too much, so I knew that wouldn't work.

Muffin mixing is a delicate art! It requires gentle and brief mixing so the muffins don't come out tough.
Ok, fast forward to today. The final muffin recipe I came up with is a light, not too sweet muffin that you can add just about anything you like. Nuts, chopped apples, granola, berries, raisins or even chocolate chips.

I did swap out half the flour for some whole wheat flour...so they're even a little bit healthy!

After you soak the oatmeal in the buttermilk, add the egg mixture and stir til just combined.

Then add the dry ingredients to the mixture and gently stir, using almost a folding motion. Don't overmix!
it's okay if you still see some streaks of flour. Stop mixing!

Then spoon the batter into your paper liners, sprinkle the tops with raw sugar and either some oats or some granola ( my choice).

I baked 6 jumbo muffins but you can make them the standard size and get 12.
( And, yes, I sprinkled half with granola and half without!).

Oatmeal Muffins ( adapted from a few places...and me)
Makes 12 standard size muffins or 6 jumbo.

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup AP flour ( I used 1/2 cup AP and 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon ( use less if you don't want a strong flavor)
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Raw or turbinado sugar ( for sprinkling on top),opt.
Oats or granola (for sprinkling on top),opt.
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Line muffin pan with paper liners.
1. Combine oats and buttermilk in a small bowl. Stir and let it sit for an hour.
2. After an hour, preheat oven to 375.
3. Whisk together flour(s), baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, oil, sugar, egg and vanilla.
5. Add the butter/egg mixture to the oatmeal/buttermilk mixture and stir just to combine.
6. Add in the flour mixture and stir gently, just til combined but streaks of flour may remain. Don't overmix!
7. Briefly fold in any add-ins that you want. Again, being careful not to overmix.
8. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar and/or granola or oats.
9. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or just til tester comes out clean. Don't overbake.
10. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then take out of pan and cool slightly. These muffins are so good warm!